Brake for toy motor vehicles



Sept. 6 1955 W. KELLERMAN N BRAKE FOR TOY MOTOR VEHICLES Filed Dec. 10, 1951 United States Patent OfiFice BRAKE FOR TOY MOTOR VEHICLES Willy- Kellermann, N umberg, Germany Application Decemben 10,1951, Serial No: 260,833

Claims priority, application Germany-June'15', 1951 2Claims; '(Cl 46-208) The present'iinvention: relates to, brake-for toy motor vehicles;

More specifically the invention relates to a running gear controlin which'the toy vehiclehas drive wheels actuated by a clockworkmechanism'or spring motor-and-in which the control includes a manuallyoperable leverembodied with the vehicle and movable through a range of positions which effect-the transmission-of drive from the-clockwork mechanism or; spring; motor to the-running wheels througha verywide range of speedwcontrol to'andiincluding stopping or braking. of the vehicle.

The prior art is repletewith control'mechanisms for toy vehicles, someof whichwere associated with clockwork mechanismsor spring-motors in: such fashion as to stop the transmission ofdrive to'the wheels'whenthe toy vehiclewas lifted: from the surface upon which it was moving. Other. prior art control mechanisms utilize centrifugal regulators of: various forms.

It. is therefore: an object ofv the present invention to provide. a. simple, compact and economical. running; gear control whichcan functionas a speed control; for the:

toy vehicle'and as-a brake;

Additionally it is an object of the invention to provide such a running gear control that can be actuated by a rather small-child who isplaying with the toy vehicle so that the child can slow down the vehicle through difierent speed ranges down to a complete stop.

It is aspecific objectto'provide'an economical running gear controlin which certain of the movable components can bestamped-outof sheet'metal and includes'the provision of a support member secured toa-shaft driven' by the spring motor and/or the clockwork mechanism, and to which support member are loosely mounted pendulum type,.centrifugally influenced armsvwhich, underathe. influence of centrifugal force imparted by rotation of the shaft, swing outwardly and a lever member that is movable through a path of movement that crosses the path of the arms and which lever can continue to be moved until it is abutted by the support member. The movement of the lever in its initial phase of movement causing the arms to strike the same to retard the rotation of the shaft and the continued movement of the lever until it intersects the path of movement of the support member, further slowing down the rotation of the shaft until, when the support member engages the lever, the shaft and thus the running wheels are stopped.

It is a further and specific object to provide the control lever from sheet metal pivotally mounted to the casing or body structure of the toy vehicle and which lever includes a first portion underlying the casing and a bent up portion at one end projecting through a slot provided in the casing of the vehicle and which bent up portion constitutes a handle to facilitate movement of the lever and a down-turned portion at the other end of the lever that constitutes the abutment or abutting edge that is engaged in turn by the loosely mounted arms and then the support member.

Specifically it is an object to provide in a running gear control for toyvehicles, a centrifugally actuated memberto be controlled which includes a sheet metal support.

of-'U.-shaped cross-section mounted on the shaft to be: di-vrectly. controlled and loosely mounted wiresbent-ata an:

angle and'each including one portion mountedintheUishaped support member in parallelism-with the'axis of" the shaft and another portion at right-angles to therfirstx portion'which merely hangs vertically when the shaft-is: stationary butwhich under the influenceof centrifugal? force'swings outwardly orradially-of the shaft to -be in the pathof-movementof the aforedescribed swinging-lever.

Specifically, it is an object to provide a controlrarrangement for toy vehicles in which the slot-through whichzthe upturned end of the control lever protrudes is arranged: transversely of the approximate entire width of the vehicle'body so that a sensitive speed adjustment canzbe.

obtained.

Further and more specific objectswill .be apparent from the following descriptiontaken in connection. with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a fragmentary plan view of awtoyl vehicle with aportion of the'vehicle body removed so'that! the. control mechanism is visibleand which-:velricle'includes the runninggear control accordings-toz the: inven; tion,

Figure 2 is a; side elevational view ofzthe-arrangement" in Figure 1 viewed along the line 2'2 of Figure: l, and.

2, by which the rear wheels 3 are. driven The winding;-

axle is indicated at 4. The shaft 5 of one of thedrivihg wheels of the clockwork mechanism is connected at.its end with asupport member or holding body 6which'body'.

is bent out of. sheet metal in the shape of aU-section. 'Iiher holding; body- 6 serves the purpose of accommodating centrifugally influenced arms or members 7 which are:

supportedloosely in corresponding or aligned: holes 8 in the opposite'fianges 19 of the'holding body 6; The: centrifugalmembers consist=of piecesof wire bent away.

at a right angle, one'limb 9:0f which is supportecbinthe" manner. stated in the holdingbody 6. This limb;is-ratiits= end riveted over or flattened to form ahead 10. which prevents the limb 9 from slipping. out of thevholesx 8': During the runningdownof the.driving mechanismx2thei centrifugalmembers 7 move radially outward; In' order.

to influence the movement of the support member or holding body 6 and the arms or members 7, the invention comprehends a regulating or control lever generally denoted at 11 which is pivotally mounted at 12 to the under side of the toy vehicle casing or body structure 13. This lever 11, as will appear from Figure 1, is a two-armed lever with the arms angularly related and the pivotal connection at 12 is located at the substantial mid point of the lever so that one arm 16 thereof lies beneath the top of the casing 13. The other arm 14 which is further illustrated in Figures 2 and 3 projects outwardly of arm 16 and in the embodiment shown it projects generally transversely of the vehicle and includes a down-turned or angled end as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3. It is clear that the movement of the lever imparts an oblique movement of the angled end 14 with respect to the plane of movement of the supporting member 6 and the arms 7. The length of the arm 14 is such that upon being moved from a position outside of the plane of movement of the arms 7 to a position crossing this plane it intersects the path of motion of the centrifugally influenced arms or members 7. According to the position to which the lever is moved the rotation of these members will be braked to a greater or less extent whereby Patented-z Sept. 6;, 1.955.-

the speed of the vehicle will be regulated by moving the control lever back and forth. To enable this regulation to be easily effected by the hand of the person or child playing with the toy, the lever 11 has a bent up end 15 of its arm 16 which end protrudes through a slot 17 of the casing 13 and can be manipulated. The arm 16 is so directed that the regulating range given by the slot 17 extends transversely across substantially the entire width of the vehicle. When the lever arm 16 of Fig. 1 is brought into the lowest extreme position, shown in Fig. l by dot and dash lines, the arm 14 will be in such a position that the holding body 6 will strike against the arm 14 and as it cannot yield like the centrifugal members 7, the movement of the holding body 6 and thus shaft 5 will be completely arrested. In this position the clockwork mechanism is therefore brought to rest.

An important advantage of the new running gear control or clockwork regulating means is occasioned by the fact that all parts can be made in a very simple manner from sheet metal or wire, so that the arrangement will be very cheap to produce and is particularly suitable for the mass production of travelling toys.

It is therefore clear that the present invention provides a running gear control for toy vehicles in which pendulum mounted arms are supported by a bracket on a shaft to be controlled and which arms move outwardly under the influence of centrifugal force when this shaft is rotated by the clockwork driving mechanism 2. The invention further comprehends a movable lever that can be moved across the path of movement of the arms and I which lever has such structural characteristics as to permit its further movement into the path of movement of the bracket. The manipulation of the lever in contact with only the arms controls the speed of rotation of the shaft to be controlled while its movement into position to be engaged by the bracket efiects a stopping of this shaft and thus of the vehicle.

I claim:

1. A brake for a toy motor vehicle of the type including a clockwork mechanism drive means comprising a rotatable support operably associated with the drive means and rotatably responsive thereto, a plurality of centrifugally influenced members loosely mounted on the support and movable radially outwards of the support under the action of centrifugal force when the support rotates, a movable control member, means mounting the member for movement successively into and across the path of movement of the said loosely mounted members and then into the path of movement of the support whereby upon initial movement of the control member the same is abutted by the loosely mounted members so that the speed of ro tation of the support and thus that of the drive means is retarded and upon continued movement of the control member the same passes into the path of movement of the support to stop the rotation of the same and thus to stop the drive means, the drive means to be controlled including a shaft, said rotatable support consisting of a sheet metal member of U-shaped cross-section including spaced flanges, said flanges having aligned apertures at opposite ends of the member and at the mid portion thereof, the apertures at the mid portion mounting said flanges and thus the member on said shaft, said centrifugally influenced members constituting a pair of members each comprising a wire including two limbs bent at right angles to one another, one limb of each wire being loosely mounted in the aligned apertures at the respective ends of the flanges of the support, means preventing disassociation of the said limbs from said support and the other limb of each member being movable radially outward of the support under the influence of centrifugal force.

2. A running gear control for toy vehicles having a body and particularly toy automobiles including in combination with a drive mechanism for the wheels of the vehicle which includes a shaft to be controlled, a bracket carried by the shaft and extending transversely of the axis thereof, loosely mounted centrifugally influenced arms mounted adjacent the opposite ends of the bracket and each including a portion freely suspended from the bracket when the latter is stationary and movable radially outwardly under centrifugal force when the shaft and thus the bracket rotates, a control lever including a first portion projecting exteriorly of the body of the vehicle, means pivotally mounting the lever to the body of the vehicle and a second lever portion movable into and across the path of movement of said centrifugally influenced members and into the path of movement of said bracket, the engagement of the members with the said second portion of the lever in accordance with the position of movement thereof controlling the speed of rotation of the shaft and thus the speed of the vehicle and the engagement of the second portion of the lever with the bracket effecting the stopping of the shaft and thus the vehicle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,932,317 Ledbetter Oct. 24, 1933 2,066,826 Davis Jan. 5, 1937 2,091,004 Marx Aug. 24, 1937 2,095,670 McNabb Oct. 12, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS 675,597 Germany May 13, 1939 

